Internet savings bank ING Direct have announced they are to take over operation of up to £3bn of UK savings accounts, with the acquisition of two Icelandic operations.
Round 22,000 Heritable Bank accounts will be taken over, worth £580m, after the bank’s parent company Landsbanki was placed into administration and accounts frozen along with sister bank Iceave.
HBOS has confirmed that talks about a merger with / buyout by Lloyds TSB are at an advanced stage. The deal will create a huge £30bn player in the banking industry, and despite some concerns being raised about the competition aspects of creating such a giant, the government have said that they will overrule any objections raised by regulators.
This shows the determination of the government that the deal they’ve helped broker will go through, relieving speculator pressure on HBOS which has seen its shares plummet in value. Whether the deal serves to calm trader’s nerves, or they simply turn their attentions to a new ‘victim’, remains to be seen.
Britain’s 7th largest bank, Alliance & Leicester, is to be bought by Spanish bank Banco Santander, it has been announced. This is likely to mean an A&L merger with Abbey, which Santander bought in 2004.